France introduces electricity weather reports for crisis winters

France is introducing a so-called electricity weather report for the upcoming crisis winter with feared bottlenecks in the energy supply. On television, after the usual weather report and between other programs, information about the load on the power grid should follow with green, yellow and red symbols. This is part of the national energy saving plan that the government will present this Thursday, the newspaper Le Parisien reported. The hope is to reach four out of five people in France along the way. By adjusting electricity consumption, the population should help avoid supply interruptions.

The national grid supplier RTE also puts information on the expected load on the electricity grid on the Internet under the motto “ecoWatt”. A green icon indicates power consumption, a yellow icon means the system is under load, and a red icon means there is a risk of supply disruptions if consumption is not reduced. Then people are asked to reduce their consumption between 8 a.m. and 12 p.m. and between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m., for example by switching on their washing machine or oven at a different time.

However, it is not necessary to switch off the television. France should not come to a standstill at these moments, but rather reduce consumption a little, it said.

The feared supply bottlenecks in nuclear power country France are related to the fact that the aging power plant park of the national energy company EDF is weakening. Half of the 56 nuclear power plants are currently off the grid for maintenance. Whether the government's warning to have as many power plants up and running again by winter as possible can be implemented remains to be seen. France relies on electricity supplies from Germany and wants to help out its neighbors with gas. In addition, France's penultimate coal-fired power plant went back into operation for a limited period in Lorraine near Saarbrücken.